A Coast Guard Air Station Sitka MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew rescued a boater Tuesday from a 31-foot sailing vessel in the Gulf of Alaska.
The helicopter crew hoisted the man from the deck of his boat, named Etak, approximately 200 miles northwest of Sitka and transported him to Sitka to be met by emergency medical personnel. The sailor was reportedly uninjured.
The boater activated his registered EPIRB when his vessel lost power Tuesday morning, according to the Coast Guard.
“The use of the properly registered EPIRB alerted us to the mariner’s situation and allowed us to locate him quickly,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Erik Ihle, an operations specialist with the Coast Guard command center in Juneau. “Due to the loss of power and the weather it was determined the safest course of action was to hoist the boater from the vessel and bring him to Sitka.”
The Etak is currently adrift and unlit.
Click here for the full press release from the Coast Guard.
